What makes Ragan’s new learning portal different

Attendees at Ragan events often tell us that our programming stands out from other educational offerings in the comms space. We’ve come to understand that the high quality of the content and the high quality of the experience matter equally, and this is feedback we don’t take lightly.

Let’s face it—much of the educational and training content for comms is outdated and not engineered to keep up with the rapidly-evolving challenges that communicators face. Many virtual learning platforms are bogged down with boring sessions, information overload or a lack of interactivity that doesn’t follow the principles of sound instructional design.

This is why we decided to transform our existing Ragan Training service— an on-demand, subscription-based hub collecting videos and resources from Ragan conferences and webinars—into a full-fledged learning portal).

Launching March 24, the new Ragan Training integrates the hallmark features of an effective learning portal such as micro-learning modules with knowledge checks and quizzes, transcript dashboards for learners (and their managers) to track progress and much more.

While Ragan Training continues to grow with our ever-expanding conference and event content, the learning portal will also be updated monthly with multiple new modules and courses that present lessons from our subject matter experts — including those on staff at Ragan and SMEs in the community — in an easily-digestible format that aligns with how people learn.

Courses available at launch include:

• The Fundamentals of Manager Communications
• The Fundamentals of Media Relations
• The Fundamentals of Communications Measurement
• AI Foundations for Communicators
• Building Business Fluency
• Conducting a Digital Strategy Audit
• Employee Recognition During Times of Change
• Media Training During Times of Change
• Building Trust With Investor Storytelling
• Powerful Executive Presence: Showing Up as a Service-Oriented Leader

Of course, the communicator’s role is not one-note. Figuring out what to focus on requires acknowledging what skills communicators are behind on and where the industry is shifting. One need only look at the rapid expanses of AI on the comms function, and the slow adoption curve, to understand that the new Ragan Training isn’t just about learning — it’s also about future-proofing your career.

To make sure we had a roadmap to address everyone’s needs equally, we went back to the drawing board and built our own framework.

The Ragan Framework

Formally rolling out to the public at Ragan’s Employee Communications Conference in Chicago this April, the Ragan Framework maps out the key skills and knowledge areas that upskill communicators to the next stages of their careers. While we can’t share all the areas of the Framework just yet, it groups learning into several key knowledge areas including:

1. Internal Comms
2. PR
3. Social Media & Marketing
4. Business Acumen
5. Leadership
6. Technology

The Framework maps to Ragan Training’s site navigation and architecture, making it easy for learners and leaders alike to find and enroll in the courses that are most relevant to their learning journey.

Members of our Communications Leadership Council are already sharing how this structure allows them to easily map individual learning paths to larger organization and business goals. We’ve learned that the Framework is true to its function, too—it frames what’s in demand based on the feedback of Council Members and Ragan Training Members alike.

Keeping it going

While the manager dashboard allows leaders to track the learning journey of their direct reports, we also learned that it’s also important to give learners the means to share and celebrate their growth.

All learners can earn badges and sharable achievements for completing basic, intermediate and advanced curriculums across the Framework’s knowledge areas. More information about these achievements will be announced soon.

We’ll also share more about our inaugural Ragan Training Instructors, our dedicated team of Ragan SMEs and more details of the learning portal in the coming weeks.

If you’re looking to upskill yourself or your team, there’s no better time to join Ragan Training.